Chapter 28: I Don't Care About Any of That — Die

The wanted poster depicted a young woman who appeared to be around twenty years old.

[The so-called benevolent race — in truth, perpetrators of monstrous crimes: the Mermaid]

This woman is Haixin, the Second Princess of the Mermaid clan. She has brought ruin upon nations and people, and was indirectly responsible for the fall of the Cloudpeak Empire. Her crimes are beyond redemption and too numerous to recount. Anyone who discovers her whereabouts is urged to report immediately. Reward: 30 million Fish Coins.

In the lower-left corner was a strange emblem depicting a shark with nine horns growing from its forehead.

"A Mermaid… no way…"

Chen Sui's eyes went wide, because in that face on the poster, he could see a faint resemblance to Hai Linlin.

"That's a wanted poster put out by the Abyss Kingdom. Every merchant ship passing through Abyss Kingdom waters is required to display one. It's been four or five years now — they haven't given up one bit."

At that moment, an unfamiliar voice came from nearby. Chen Sui turned to look and found a dark-skinned young man staring straight at him.

The young man was bare-chested, with a belt strung from the teeth of some unknown sea beast hanging at his waist. His face was painted with several broken circles in pigment — apparently the mark of some obscure, fringe belief.

Noticing Chen Sui's gaze, the young man broke into a smile — bright and easygoing:

"Those people from the Abyss Kingdom are all beasts in human skin. They're the ones who invaded the Mermaid clan's territory, yet they turn around and call the Mermaids irredeemably evil."

As he spoke, he held out a strip of some kind of seaweed that Chen Sui had never seen before.

"What's this?"

"Violet Mist Seaweed. It only grows near my hometown. Give it a try."

The young man smiled and popped a piece into his own mouth.

"Thanks, but I'll pass."

Chen Sui shook his head, then tried to fish for more information: "Do you know anything about this Mermaid?"

"Not a thing. I'm just a small-time peddler."

The young man denied it, leaving Chen Sui a little disappointed.

"But hey — don't go repeating what I just said to anyone. If the Abyss Kingdom people hear it, they'll nail you to a cross as a heretic and burn you — then scatter your ashes into the sea to feed the fish."

As he said this, the young man glanced furtively left and right, then fixed his bright eyes on Chen Sui:

"You're a Chosen One, aren't you? You really do look different from the people around here. I like the look of you, so I'll tell you a few rules for doing business in this place. Know the rules, and you won't get cheated."

At that, he suddenly gathered his clothes and lowered his voice, beckoning Chen Sui with a wave of his hand. "Come a little closer — I'll tell you how to tell the real goods from the fakes these vendors are selling."

Chen Sui blinked, not yet having time to react.

The young man suddenly pulled something out from inside his clothes and sprayed it directly at him.

Psst—

A mist of red vapor appeared in the air.

Chen Sui had been somewhat on guard and dodged at the first instant, but he didn't get away completely — more than half of his face took the hit.

A sudden dampness appeared on the sprayed side of his face. The liquid carried a strange odor, faintly bitter, like an extract from some unusual plant.

"What did you spray on me?! Guards!"

Chen Sui cried out instinctively.

But the nearby guards merely glanced over and showed no intention of getting involved.

"Hey, hey, hey." The young man spoke up. "You could shout yourself hoarse and they still wouldn't care. I already told you — this is the rule on merchant ships. Whether it's people or goods, real or fake, if you get it wrong, you bear the consequences yourself."

Chen Sui said nothing. He could feel an unbearable itch spreading across the skin where the liquid had landed.

He instinctively wanted to reach up and scratch.

"If I were you, I wouldn't think about scratching at Peeling Seaweed juice."

The young man's voice came through again at just the right moment. "Of course, if you want to ruin your face, be my guest."

By now, the vendors all around had turned to look, and more than a few voices rang out with gleeful schadenfreude.

"That little punk Afei got someone again."

"So many people have been fooled by that harmless face of his. Everyone's used to it by now."

"Looks like someone's in for a shakedown. That kid's got a reputation for being ruthless."

"…"

Listening to the voices around him, the curve of Afei's lips grew wider. "So? Give me twenty thousand Fish Coins and I'll hand over the antidote. Otherwise, this stuff will seep into your skin — and by then, it won't just be your face. Your features, your cartilage, even your entire skull will rot away."

He had been watching Chen Sui for a while. The way he spent so freely, never haggling over anything — he was clearly a fat target.

"The antidote!"

Chen Sui said in a low voice.

The itch on his face was growing worse, laced with a dense, crawling pain spreading beneath the skin, but he didn't dare scratch.

"I already said — this is a transaction. Are you slow, Chosen One? Can't you understand plain speech? Fine, I'm not forcing you. I'm no thug who strong-arms people into deals. If you don't want to, I'll just leave."

With that, Afei made a show of turning to go.

"Wait."

Afei turned back at his leisure, smiling at Chen Sui. "Well? Ready to buy?"

Chen Sui didn't answer. Instead, he drew a deep breath and let a word tear out from his throat:

"Terror… Crab!"

Boom!

In an instant, a massive black shape appeared in the open hold. Its enormous body crushed Afei's stall flat, and one snap of a claw sent a severed arm flying through the air.

Afei sat down hard on the ground in a daze, clutching the stump of his arm and rolling around with a wretched scream.

"AAAAAAH—"

Vendors all around changed color and scrambled to shove their stalls away.

Guards from every direction closed in, each summoning a fish-type creature with an unusually pronounced skull, leveling their weapons at Chen Sui's Terror Crab.

"No fighting! Freeze!"

"You dare kill me? If you kill me, the merchant ship will have you executed too! I suggest you think carefully!"

Afei sat on the ground, his face white with terror.

"Kill him."

Chen Sui said quietly, his head lowered.

He hated being played for a fool more than anything.

The Terror Crab swung its massive Crab Claws, the gust of wind sending several nearby guards tumbling. It raised the claws high and brought them down aimed squarely at Afei's head.

"Stop! Stop! I'll give you the antidote — here, right here!"

Afei frantically dug a small bottle of green spray from inside his clothes.

But at that moment, Chen Sui grabbed his own face and tore — ripping away every last strip of skin that had been contaminated by the liquid.

He raised his head. Half his face was stripped raw, exposing the bloody flesh beneath, making him look utterly terrifying.

He shook the blood from his hand, his expression half agony, half relief:

"I don't care about any of that. Die."

The words fell.

The Terror Crab raised its enormous claws.

Boom.

The entire hold shook as if the earth itself had moved.

A group of players browsing nearby couldn't help but startle.

"What the hell? What happened? Is the ship capsizing?"

"Where's that noise coming from?"

"Someone's fighting in the next hold — everyone go watch!"

"Who is it? That bold?"

The players were all quite interested. The only people who had boarded this ship so far were players, so whoever was fighting was almost certainly one of them. They wanted to know just who had the nerve.

Lu Chengzhi and Lu Yaoren exchanged a glance.

"With a commotion that big, could it be a top player?"

"Unlikely — Brother Chen is steady. He wouldn't start a fight here." Lu Chengzhi shook his head, though a flicker of uncertainty crossed his face. "Probably…"

"Should we go look?"

"Let's go take a look."